Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamists said on Sunday they had seized control of a southern town from the rival Hizbul Islam insurgents after clashes that killed at least 12 fighters.
Al Shabaab controls much of southern Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu. The group is fighting government troops and African Union peacekeepers to impose its own version of sharia, or Muslim law, throughout Somalia.
Witnesses said hundreds of the group’s fighters marched into Afmadow town in the lower Juba region on Sunday after heavy fighting that started the previous day.